Well, the streets are empty and SXSW is officially done for the year. All I can say about this famous Austin music festival is this: insanity at its finest.
Nothing went to plan for me. I didn’t get to see all the bands I wanted to see, but instead chose to take in bands I had never heard of. The choice worked out to my benefit as I got to see some really kick ass bands.
Friday night’s Screeching Weasel meltdown was the one thing I wish I could have seen. It was the talk of the town. I am going to be posting some more about that later as I have a few eye witnesses who are going to share their stories. It was just too messed to to not talk about.
Saturday was fun as I headed downtown after a gluten free breakfast. (I am seriously going to look into a gluten free diet of sorts) I caught some killer bands including a metal/classical/instrumental act from San Francisco that blew me away.
Bands and beers. It was a good time for sure.
The Lone Star beer was pretty damn delicious too. Way better than my beloved PBR. I opted to chill out as Friday I may or may not have drank myself stupid.
Saturday night though was pretty insane as well and I am sure that gigantic moon in the sky had something to do with it.
I was at the Eastside Drive-In to see The Dead Milkmen at the Mess With Texas party. It was packed as hell and thanks to some fine maneuvering, my friend and I were able to get up to a good spot to see them do their thing. It was awesome and I am happy to say I can finally scratch them off my list of bands I want to see before I die.
Immediately after their set we tried to head out but everyone started bum rushing the grounds. Kids were climbing over fences and porta-potties and there was an instant sea of people. We just wanted to get the hell out.
After pushing through easily a thousand people we finally got to the exit where there was a situation going on and security, who could not control the thousand of other people getting in, would not let us out. Words were exchanged, patience was lost, and we finally said screw it and rushed through them and got out of that cluster eff.
The night was far from over though. I think it was only 9pm by the time we peaced out of that mess and hoofed it to the Scoot Inn (the same venue that Ben Weasel had his incident at the night before).
I ran in to two friends who I had not seen in forever and chilled with them on a log, yes, a log. The place was like a campground atmosphere with picnic tables and a decent sized stage and standing area. It was fenced in and really to me looked mobile.
So the night seemed to be going well and Eyehategod finally took the stage. The were tearing things up when suddenly the moon came out and provided for another mess to the night.
Apparently my friend’s boyfriend was front and center and having a good ol’ time. Not sure what all transpired but the lead singer told the crowd to kick my friend’s boyfriend’s ass. Nothing really happened immediately but the guitar player said he was going to kid the guy in the head and it was just an ugly vibe. Soon some douche tried picking a fight and that was enough, my friend grabbed him and got him out of the area.
Apparently no one can just have a good time.
That was enough. We went home and skipped Pentagram. I really wanted to see them too. Oh well.
Yesterday was chill for me. I saw a few cool bands at Lovejoys and then headed to a place I have been wanting to go to for years now…
Dale Watson was awesome. The place was packed and was just so much fun to be a part of. I wish I would have stayed longer but I was exhausted and starving. At least I can say I finally made it to Ginny’s. I’ll scratch that off my list too.
I missed out on a few acts I really wanted to see thanks to the flight screw-up. I missed Wagons who I really wanted to see as they came all the way from Australia. I’m also a huge fan of them and would loved to have seen them again. Oh well, next time.
Austin is an amazing city and I adore it. The people I have met this round were kick ass folk who welcomed me into their great city. I met at least seven people who used to live in Ohio (I may be one of those people one day…). The Lone Star beer was pretty damn delicious too.
SXSW was a bonus if you ask me.
My adventure in Austin us coming to a close, but I will be back soon. I love it here too much.
I managed to make my way over rope nets, climb over walls, balance on beams, and even crawl under barb wire. Luckily I have no fear of heights (sadly one girl did who I had to help coax push her leg over the net wall, she apologized profusely) and was able climb up high as well as managed to climb over walls and even trudge through mud covered logs in water dirtier than Lake Erie.
